Wu jin/Shanghai Daily news

The director of Jiuxing Town in Minhang District wasn't a popular man when he began an ambitious, but very controversial project to redevelop the area - a plan that called for the destruction of many factories, but his accomplishments have been astounding.
Wu enfu has turned the once poverty-stricken area into a huge bazaar, accommodating about 5,000 shops selling construction material.
The town's net income topped 120 million yuan (US$14.8 million) from January to July of this year, an increase of 16.6 percent from the same period last year, according to town statistics.
Just nine years ago, 84 percent of the town's villages were running at a deficit.
But the town has now paid off all of its debt, created jobs, attracted investment, and increased local wages impressively.
Having been involved in the town's agricultural development division for 10 years, Wu was appointed director of the town during its toughest financial period in 1994.
His first major decision was to tear down money-losing factories to set up markets selling construction materials - a commodity he felt was perfect for the area due to its location and the massive amount of construction going on all over Shanghai at the time.
"Poverty is nothing to be feared as long as people are willing to think out ways to change the situation," said the 52-year-old director.
Wu encountered great pressure as people blamed him for demolishing the factories, the biggest employers in the area at the time.
But he saw what many of his critics couldn't, or wouldn't.
Wu foresaw a potential commercial market in the town, which has a strong traffic network linked to the city's downtown.
At that time, he travelled outside the town almost every weekend to talk with businessmen who were not Shanghainese but wanted to set up their business in the city.
He built up the town's first bazaar for hardware and construction materials and a year later the town paid off its debt of 20 million yuan.
Wu wasn't satisfied with just paying off the town's debt, however; he wanted to create a whole new level of prosperity for its residents.
"There are similarities between running bazaars and ploughing farmland. Both of them are in need of careful management," said Wu.
Over the next eight years, he help set up thousands of shops in the town.
Last year, the town's net revenues reached about 247 million yuan, 77 times its revenues in 1994.
According to his colleagues, Wu has a great zest for finding investors and persuading them to set up businesses in the town.
But he has never signed long-term contracts since he believes flexible rental prices would help the town maximize its revenues.
Recently he has taken his plans to the Internet, developing a Website so more people can learn about Jiuxing's markets, and the town's future development plans.
According to Jiuxing Town's most recent blueprint, Wu also wants to introduce supermarkets and office buildings to replace some of the area's old shops.
To push forward the town's development, Wu is also calling for many Jiuxing-born university graduates to return to the area to work.
"I don't only want to enrich local people's wealth from nothing to 30,000 yuan a year, but also try to change the town's lifestyle," Wu said.